Cross-Examination

• Jordan’s third try and the House GOP future: House Republicans continue to fight over their next speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s unceremonious ouster three weeks ago. Ohio’s Jim Jordan is getting a third vote today after at one point saying he’d simply back off and throw his support behind expanding the powers of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry through January. Republicans failed to agree to that, however, and McHenry threatened to resign a job he never wanted. Just before we went to press, McCarthy officially nominated Jordan for this third vote. It remains to be seen whether Republicans can set aside their differences and move on, but observers expect Jordan to fall short yet again, perhaps even losing more GOP votes.

• Idiotic White House doxxes U.S. troops: “The White House took serious heat on social media Thursday for posting an image of President Biden meeting with U.S. troops in Israel without obscuring their identities,” reports Fox News. Whatever intern runs that account deleted the photo later, and the White House put out a statement saying, “We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.” Those issues include potentially compromising the identities of soldiers in harm’s way. It was clearly part of the full-court press to make Biden appear like a strong leader, but as with most of those efforts it only backfires.

• Disinformation reporter’s disinformation: The American Leftmedia took Hamas propaganda about that hospital explosion hook, line, and sinker. That included reporters who are supposed to specialize in coverage of disinformation. NBC News reporter Ben Collins is part of that leftist Praetorian Guard known as the “fact-checkers.” But the 2023 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism winner didn’t correct that disinformation; he propagated it. As Reason’s Robby Soave put it, “There’s something extra galling about journalistic errors when they are perpetrated by someone who holds himself out as especially talented at identifying lies.”

• Americans trust the media less than ever: In a story totally unrelated to the one above, the latest Gallup poll reveals that Americans’ trust in the media has matched the record low recorded in 2016. “In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media?” Gallup asked. A record high 39% responded, “None at all.” That number should be far higher, given the obvious Democrat propaganda peddled by most of the mainstream media. Just 11% of Republicans trust the media, but even Democrat trust fell 12 points to 58% over the last year. On the other hand, we suppose the real news here is that 32% of Americans still trust the media “a great deal” or “a fair amount.” Someone reach over and slap those people.

• El Paso the illegal immigration buck: El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser is in the thick of Joe Biden’s intentional invasion at the southern border. His city sits right across the border from Juarez, Mexico, one of the most violent cities in the world. And Leeser is fed up. So much so that in the last month he’s sent 178 busloads of more than 7,700 illegal aliens to sanctuary cities like Chicago, Denver, and New York. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has bused more than 58,000 illegals to sanctuary cities in recent months. Democrats caterwaul about Abbott’s move, but they’re strangely silent about Leeser’s. The reason is obvious: Abbott is a Republican and Leeser is a Democrat. Regardless, we say keep it up. The best way to bring a solution to this crisis is to make sanctimonious leftists in non-border enclaves have to deal with the consequences of their own terrible policies.

Headlines

• Israel sets out three phases of war, will seek new “security regime” once Hamas vanquished (Times of Israel)

• This is the drug Hamas terrorists took to help them slaughter Israelis (Jerusalem Post)

• U.S. military shoots down missiles and drones in the Middle East (AP)

• State Department issues “worldwide caution” alert as tensions in the Middle East soar (CNBC)

• DHS puts pro-Hamas immigrant screener on leave as she reaffirms that she “celebrates" terrorism (Daily Wire)

• U.S. intelligence estimates 100-300 killed in Gaza hospital strike (AFP)

• President Biden gaslights Americans in Oval Office address on Ukraine, Israel (PJ Media)

• A federal judge rules again that California’s assault weapons ban is unconstitutional (AP)

• American soldier who ran into North Korea faces charges of desertion, soliciting child porn (Daily Wire)

• California Senator Laphonza Butler will not seek a full term (Politico)

• Mortgage rates hit 8%, highest since turn of century (Washington Examiner)

• Biden admin OKs major Pacific Northwest gas pipeline in blow to environmentalists, Dems (Fox News)

• "Transgender” former football coach listed in Maxim Australia’s “Hot 100” women (Fox News)

• Canada is further expanding access to its assisted-suicide program to include drug addicts (Not the Bee)

• Satire: Biden announces he has secured pinky promise from Hamas not to use $100 million for terrorism (Babylon Bee)

• Humor: CNN blames fog of war for errant reporting on Gaza bombing, Russian collusion, Jussie Smollett, Covington Catholic, Hunter’s laptop, the Steele dossier, Kyle Rittenhouse, origins of COVID (continued in article, please click for more) (Babylon Bee)

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